August 29, 1S72. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



161 









WEEKLY 



CALENDAR. 















Day 



of 



Mouth 



Day 

 of 



Week. 





Average Tempera- 



Rain in 



Sun 



Sun 









Clock 



Day 



AUG. 29— SEPT. 4, 1872. 



ture near London. 



43 yearB. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Rises. 



Sets. 



Age. 



Sun. 



Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



Days. 



m. s. 





29 



Th 



Sevenoaks Horticultural Show. 



71.2 



47.6 



59.4 



16 



9 afo 



52af6 



morn. 



15 af 5 



25 



88 



242 



80 



F 



Bishop Auckland Horticultural Show. 



74.5 



48.2 



61.3 



11 



10 5 



49 6 



47 



52 5 



26 



20 



243 



31 



S 





71.5 



47.4 



59.4 



17 



12 5 



46 6 



51 1 



22 6 



27 



2 



244 



1 



Sun 



14 Sunday after Trinity. 



71.1 



47.5 



59.3 



21 



14 5 



44 6 



57 2 



45 6 



28 



after. 



245 



2 



M 



Partiidge Shooting commences. 



71.0 



47.6 



59.3 



19 



16 5 



42 6 



9 4 



2 7 



29 



36 



246 



3 



Tu 





71.8 



47.7 



59.2 



19 



17 5 40 6 



19 5 



19 7 



• 



55 



247 



4 



W 



Royal Horticultural Society, Fruit. Floral, 

 [aud General Meeting. 



71.0 



46.7 



58.9 



19 



18 5 3S 6 



31 6 



32 7 



1 



1 15 



248 



From observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 71.7°; anc 



its night temperature 



47.5°. The greatest heat was 85', on the 1st, 1843 ; and the lowest cold 30°, on the 4th, 1850. The greatest fall of rain was 1.92 inch. 





THE CULTIVATION OF THE PHLOX. 



HE bi-monthly meetings of the Eoyal Horti- 

 cultural Society at South Kensington are, 

 without doubt, the most useful gatherings 

 of the kind we have at present. There is 

 always sometliing exhibited of much in- 

 terest to the botanist, the pomologist, or the 

 florist, and growers of any description of 

 fruit or flowers have an opportunity of ex- 

 hibiting them when at their best. Spread 

 as the meetings are over the whole course of 

 the year, the subjects exhibited are necessarily diverse in 

 their nature. 



On the 7th inst. the justly-celebrated growers of florists' 

 flowers, Messrs. Downie, Laird, & Laing, of Edinburgh 

 and London, exhibited a large and exceedingly well- 

 grown collection of Phloxes. Nearly twenty years ago 

 the firm was noted for raising new sorts of the early- 

 flowering kind, Phlox pyraniidalis. This section succeeds 

 best in Scotland, and is held in high estimation there for 

 exhibition purposes ; it seems to delight in a cool and 

 moist climate, as it does not succeed at all in the neigh- 

 bom-hood of London. AH the varieties exhibited on this 

 occasion were of the P. decussata, or late-flowering section. 

 Cultivators of this lovely autumn flower are much in- 

 debted to Mr. Laing for many improved varieties ; some 

 of those exhibited were shown for the first time, and will 

 be sent out next season. Amongst those not yet sent out 

 I noted Ada Louisa, very clear white, with distinct red 

 eye ; Countess of Eglintoun, rosy purple, flowers of good 

 shape ; H. M. Simons, rosy crimson, fine-shaped pips, 

 large spike ; J. K. Lord, rich carmine, crimson centre, 

 good spike ; Princess of Wales, very large flowers, dis- 

 tinct crimson eye ; Purple Prince, rosy purple, dark eye, 

 and large spike. 



Amongst older varieties the best were A. F. Barron, 

 a splendid variety, lilac, with a purplish- crimson eye, the 

 flowers veiy large, and of fine form ; Amabihs, salmon, 

 with a purple eye ; Chancy, large, rosy purple ; De Caen, 

 blush, well-shaped flower ; Madame Autin, very brilliant, 

 violet red ; Madame Billy, blush, purple centre ; Madame 

 la Comtesse de Turenne ; Madame Domage, a good old 

 sort, fine habit; Monsieur Marin Saison, salmon red, 

 dwarf, and extra fine ; Lothair, in the way of Amabihs, 

 but a much better flower (this and A. F. Barron are, 

 perhaps, the best flowers yet sent out) ; Liervallii, a very 

 distinct rose-coloured flower with white stripes ; Monsieur 

 Conrad, very handsome truss ; Czarina, very dwarf, white ; 

 La Candeur, white, with cerise eye ; Monsieur Thaillard, 

 glowing reddish salmon ; Queen of Whites, pure white, a 

 splendid flower ; Souvenir de Nancy, rosy purple ; Souve- 

 nn- de Berryer, crimson purple centre ; and Mrs. Laing, 

 lilac, perfect-shaped flower. 



The culture is very simple, and the propagation easy. 

 Cuttings should be struck early in March. I insert one 

 cutting in the centre of a small pot, and place the plants 

 m a hotbed. Very little bottom heat is required. The 

 frame should be kept close for a few days, and the cut- 

 No. 596.-V0L. XXIII., New Series. 



tings shaded from bright sunshine ; in two weeks most of 

 them will be rooted, when more air should be admitted ; 

 in a week or two more the young plants should be re- 

 moved to a cold frame, and when well established place 

 the plants in 6-inch pots. By this time they may stand 

 out of doors in an open position, but not in a current of 

 wind. A neat stick, about 18 inches in length, should be 

 placed to each plant. No other attention will be required, 

 except to supply them very liberally with water, espe- 

 cially after the pots are full of roots. The pots should 

 stand on a hard bottom of ashes, and if they are plunged 

 in ashes much less water will he required. The plants 

 will flower well in these pots about the beginning of 

 August, and are useful in many ways. A few of them 

 may be arranged in the greenhouse or conservatory with 

 the long stalks hidden amongst a green undergrowth of 

 Ferns or foliage, in which way a fine effect is produced. 

 I have also found such plants exceedingly useful in filling 

 up a background in the flower garden. When the flowers 

 have faded the stalks should be cut over close to the 

 ground, and the pots plunged out of doors, if a cold frame 

 is not at liberty ; in either case the pots should be plunged 

 to protect the roots from frost. If the plants are out 

 of doors, some Utter should be at hand to throw over 

 them during severe frost ; some common bracken is as 

 good as anything for this purpose. 



In spring, when the shoots have grown an inch or 

 two, the plants should be turned out of the pots, some 

 of the soil picked out from amongst the roots, and the 

 plants repotted in 7-inch pots. Five or six shoots will be 

 enough on one plant. Should more be thrown up they 

 must be thmned-out, and may be used, if required, for 

 cuttings. When the pots are filled with roots, which 

 will be in a surprisingly short space of time, repot into 

 10-inch pots. The potting material used throughout 

 should be good, and may be composed of turfy loam four 

 parts, good solid cow and stable manure in equal propor- 

 tions one part, and one part decayed leaf mould. 



A fresh lot of cuttings should be struck every year, as 

 when the plants grow old it is best to throw them away. 

 Some persons — I cannot call them cultivators, but I sup- 

 pose it is to save trouble — divide the old plants from the 

 open ground by cutting them through with a spade, but 

 good plants are never obtained in this way. 



Phloxes are excellent subjects either for planting in 

 beds or in the open borders ; but to obtain superior 

 spikes the former method is the better, as then the beds 

 can be made on purpose for them. The ground should 

 be well trenched and highly manured, and the plants 

 should be " set out " in rows (four rows in-a bed) 2 feet 

 apart, with 20 inches between the plants in the row. The 

 best time to plant-out is in spring, after the plants have 

 started into growth. One-year-old plants are to be pre- 

 ferred, and the shoots should be thinned-out and trained 

 in a similar manner to the plants in pots. 



In dry hot weather Phloxes must be well supplied with 



water, as should they suffer from lack of moisture at 



the roots, whether planted-out or in 'pots, nearly all the 



stalk-leaves will drop off, and the spikes will present a 



No. 124S. — Vol. XLVHI., Old Series. 



